Loop office building sells for $62 million

AmTrust Realty completed its $62 million purchase of the 24-story office tower at 33 N. Dearborn St. New York-based Amtrust financed the acquisition with a $43.4 million, 15-year loan from American General Life Insurance & Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, according to Cook County property records. Crain's reported in January that AmTrust had agreed to pay almost $65 million for the Loop tower, which was sold by a Chicago-based venture of Fulcrum Asset Management and Diversified Real Estate. “While there's no shortage of investors vying for Chicago's trophy assets, office properties on every end of the spectrum are commanding a significant amount of interest, and the sale of 33 N. Dearborn proves that,” Bruce Miller, managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle, which brokered the sale, said in a statement.

West Loop office owner borrows $68 million

A few months after buying a 15-story West Loop office building, a venture of Chicago-based GlenStar Properties and New Jersey-based Prudential Real Estate Investors borrowed $68 million against the property. The loans will cover the $58 million acquisition of the tower at 311 W. Monroe St. in November as well as costs to renovate the building and pay broker leasing commissions, according to a statement from one of the lenders, Los Angeles-based Mesa West Capital. The property is just 18 percent leased. The owners took out a $53 million “A note” on Feb. 6 from New York Life Insurance and a $15 million “B note” from Mesa West, according to Cook County records. GlenStar hasn't finalized its redevelopment plans for the 380,000-square-foot building, which offers the largest contiguous block of vacant space in downtown Chicago, said GlenStar Managing Director Christian Domin. With remaining tenants' leases expiring soon, the landlord is seeking one or two tenants to fill most of the tower, Domin said.

Seattle firm pays $11 million for East Garfield Park apartments

A partnership of Seattle-based Vitus Group paid about $11 million for the 138-unit Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza Apartments in East Garfield Park, according to Cook County property records. Vitus, which specializes in affordable-housing deals, plans to spend $7.3 million renovating the complex at Madison Street and Kedzie Avenue, which was built in 1972, the company said in a statement. The project will include replacing existing fences, replacing all roofs at the property, masonry repairs and installing new lighting and appliances. “There is an urgent need to preserve existing affordable housing stocks, and we're dedicated to funding and rehabilitating the right projects to do just that,” Vitus CEO Stephen Whyte said in a statement. The Vitus partnership acquired the apartments from a trust that has long owned the complex, property records show. The trust is associated with a partnership whose general partner is a Laguna Hills, Calif.-based investor named Cindy Stein. She didn't return a call.